


Aomine the Vampire Slayer

by sui



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-20 14:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sui/pseuds/sui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The nonlinear adventures of Aomine the Vampire Slayer and friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> They don't take place in any particular order nor is there any sort of overall plot. As long as that's fine...

Daiki was _so_ done with this hunt. He threw a careless punch – that managed to connect nevertheless – at the last one, knocking it off balance before a roundhouse kick brought it to the ground. One foot on its chest kept it from getting up again. Staring at the grotesque creature struggling under him, his expression remained impassive. “Don’t even bother,” Daiki muttered, rolling his eyes before driving a stake so hard through the vampire’s chest he could feel it penetrate through to the soft ground of the cemetery.

Brushing himself off, Daiki walked away, leaving the dying vampire behind. He didn’t care. The evidence would take care of itself. A little ways away he paused, taking in the sounds of the night. Behind him and to the right there was a faint rustling.

_There it was again…_

Whirling with near feline grace, the boy already had a stake in hand as a darker patch of shadow unfolded from behind a tombstone.

“Impressive,” the man said, the wooden point of Daiki’s weapon two inches from his nose. He was pale but his facial features were normal, eyes unclouded, hands held up to project an aura of harmlessness.

Daiki glared. “What do you want?” he asked.

The stranger’s eyes were fixed on the stake in front of him. Daiki lowered the weapon but kept it in hand, still loosely pointed at the man. That seemed to be enough; lowering his arms as well, the man relaxed. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Hunched in front of a dark storefront, Daiki accepted the coffee he was handed. He regarded the can warily.

Kuroko Tetsuya, as he’d introduced himself, opened his own drink but made no move to drink it. Instead, he regarded the last wisps of steam as they vanished into the night air.

Daiki’s had cooled slightly on the walk from the vending machine to his position. He waited until Kuroko had taken a sip before asking, “Now, Kuroko—”

“Tetsuya would be fine,” Kuroko interjected.

“What are you doing here, Kuroko?” He fixed the man with a level stare, in no way impeded by the difference in heights.

Kuroko glanced at him. “Do you want the long answer or the short one?”

“I don’t have time for long answers,” Daiki snapped.

“Then here it is: I’ll be your Watcher from now on. Let’s get along.” He made as if to leave but was stopped by Daiki’s grip on the back of his coat.

“Wait, what?”

Kuroko sighed. “And that’s why there’s a long answer.”


	2. Chapter 2

There wasn’t a crash. No splintering of wood, no tinkling of glass, not even the sound of someone breaking the lock. Nevertheless, Daiki’s senses didn’t lie – there was a vampire in the house. Possibly two.

“Really,” Tetsu said after he’d voiced that fact. His voice didn’t carry a hint of doubt. “And right in the middle of dinner too.”

“Remind me. Why are we doing this again?” Daiki stood silently and moved to crouch on one side of the doorway leading into the hall.

Tetsu moved to cover the other exit into the kitchen, gripping the knife he’d been using with what would have been surprising familiarity if Daiki had had the time to think about it. “Your father has the graveyard shift at the hospital tonight and with Momoi and Kise unavailable, you’re out of friends willing to put up with you for an entire night, much less cook you a meal.”

“Does that mean you’re going to sleep over?” Daiki whispered. He could see movement around the corner at the far end of the hall.

“Depends on whether this place will still be inhabitable before sunrise,” Tetsu shot back. “There’s movement in the garden,” he added.

As far as he could tell, there was only one vampire inside. He could handle it. “I’m gonna take care of the one in the hall,” he said. He motioned for Tetsu to keep quiet and dashed out.

He was already three quarters of the way down the hall when the vampire rounded the corner, swinging a fist that would have hit Daiki square in the nose had he not ducked, kicking its legs out from under it. It toppled, and dragged him down with it. Daiki managed to come up on the opposite side and backed toward the entrance, away from the living room and Tetsu. The vampire followed him, clearly searching for an opening. Pretty sure it would never find one, Daiki went in for a hit first, catching it in the stomach. He got in a couple more before he was kicked back, hitting the wall hard. The vampire had him cornered in a second, already straining to reach his neck. Fumbling along the wall, his hand met fabric; just out of his line of sight was the row of wooden pegs mounted on the wall for them to hang their jackets on. As the vampire closed in, Daiki twisted away, adding to its momentum with a swift, off-balance kick to the small of its back. He took the opportunity to snap a peg off as it stumbled back, dazed from its impact with the wall.

With improvised stake in hand, he made short work of the vampire and returned to the living room. Barely five minutes had passed.

“Have you seen anything else outside?” Daiki crouched as Tetsu crawled toward him.

“Another one showed up. There are only two total,” Tetsu said. “I think the one you took care of might have been a scout. It looks like they’re waiting for him.”

“They’ll be waiting a while then.” Daiki straightened up.

Tetsu accepted the hand he held out and also stood. “Then you know what you should do,” he said.

“Go out and take ‘em on?” Daiki suggested.

Tetsu gave him a _look_ but otherwise pretended he hadn’t spoken. “Alright then, let’s prepare some.”

Daiki took a lazy glance around the living room. “That vase,” he said, pointing, “Is filled with holy water.”

Already heading toward it, Tetsu asked, “Did you put the stakes where I told you to?”

“In the umbrella stand, yeah. It’s in the entryway.”

“Oh…”

Unperturbed, Daiki grinned. “Can you cover me?”

“Leave it to me.”


	3. Chapter 3

Still wound up from the recent kill, it was a while before Daiki found he could relax. As Tetsu popped out from behind the headless angel statue that had become their unofficial meeting place, Daiki broke his fighting stance to sling an arm around his shoulder, leaning on him heavily. He could feel Tetsu buckling under the weight but when he tried to straighten up, he was caught in the other’s firm grip.

“Are you tired?” Tetsu asked.

“That was the fifth vampire I’ve slayed in three days,” Daiki pointed out as they staggered in the direction of his car.

“You’re right. This is worrying,” Tetsu agreed. “I’ll have to check the books—"

“Tetsu,” Daiki interrupted. “I think you’re missing the point here.”

Pausing to fish the keys out of Daiki’s pocket, Tetsu unlocked the car and bundled him into the passenger’s side. “Am I?” he questioned.

Daiki nodded. “What this _means_ ,” he said, “Is that it’s time for a day off.”

The car stuttered into life with a low grumble before lurching out into the street, an old, second-hand disturbance in the otherwise quiet neighborhood.“The forces of evil hardly take a _day off_ ,” Tetsu retorted.

“Sure they do! Tomorrow’s Halloween, isn’t it? Nothing ever happens on Halloween.”

Tetsu didn’t even bother shooting him a look. “Except for last year, when—”

“That wasn’t even supernatural.” Daiki waved the protest away. “Besides, now that it’s happened once, it can’t happen again.”

“As long as you follow the new pumpkin regulations the school’s put in place, you mean.”

“Yeah, that.” Tetsu was stalling for time, Daiki knew; they’d be at his place in five minutes. One of the advantages of living in a small town was that it was easy to keep on top of any suspicious incidents that might be occurring but damn if he didn’t wish car rides like this could last longer.

“Come on,” he cajoled, slipping on his most charming smile.

“…Fine,” Tetsu conceded. “Use the opportunity to get some rest. If you need me, I’ll be in the library.”

“What are you talking about? You’re taking the day off too,” Daiki insisted. “I’m tired, you’re tired. Leave things be and relax a little bit, damn it.” And then he grinned. “Let’s go for coffee.”

They’d pulled up to Tetsu’s apartment. Tetsu sighed, and didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Daiki knew when he’d won.


	4. Chapter 4

“What is it you’re trying to do? What are you trying to prepare me for?” Daiki’s hand met the table with a hollow thud that almost seemed to echo around the library.

Tetsu continued to pack various weapons away into a duffel bag. The abrupt movements of each hand and the clank of each piece of metal made Daiki nervous. He reached out to catch Tetsu around the wrist.

“Tetsu.”

Daiki wondered if he’d have to physically tilt Tetsu’s chin to catch his gaze. He was distraught, that much was clear in the subtle tightness around clear eyes, the tensing up to a touch he’d never flinched from, the unhealthy cast to already pale skin – Tetsu was worried about something and Daiki could tell and, as much as he wanted to be gentle about it, he was worried too and frustrated and maybe even a little scared because never before had Tetsu been so hesitant to tell him something.

They were feelings he wasn’t used to.

So he glared, and tightened his grip, and just barely managed to keep his voice under control as he demanded, “Stop messing around and tell me.” He looked at the duffel bag. “What are you expecting to happen?”

“Nothing,” Tetsu said and then, “Everything. I just―” Daiki let him pull back. They stood, barely three inches apart in the silence of the library. Tetsu rested his head on Daiki’s shoulder, whispered, “I just don’t want you to get caught with your guard down.”

It wasn’t everything. It wasn’t _why_ Tetsu was so worried all of a sudden when he’d never cared before or what was so bad that Daiki might not be able to handle it or when, if at all, he saw it coming. Daiki couldn’t quite believe that it was baseless worry on Tetsu’s part. He was a slayer, and he was good – and that had been enough.

“I could just be worrying myself,” Tetsu continued. “I need to do more research. I’ll find a solution so just wait.”

 _Wait for what? Solution to what?_ Daiki wanted to shout but Tetsu looked fragile enough, creased and worn out, like a book page that had been gone over, again and again, and he was reminded that a watcher had their own duties.

“We have time,” Tetsu said but at this point Daiki didn’t know which of the two of them he was trying to reassure. “Just be careful. Please.”

Daiki clasped Tetsu’s hand. _That’s not good enough_ , he wanted to say, _I need more of an answer than that_. What he said was, “I will.”

He could feel the steady inhale and exhale of Tetsu’s breath against his neck. Too steady. Looking down, Daiki realized that he had fallen asleep, right there, leaning against him.

“Just promise me one thing.” Daiki stroked the man’s hair, gently shifting him until he could lower him into a chair. “You be careful too.”


	5. Chapter 5

“That’s disgusting,” Daiki couldn’t help saying, even before Kise had sat down. His eyes were trained on the clearly defined imprint of lips near his collarbone.

“Shut up,” Kise mumbled, trying to tug his shirt up to hide the mark. “This is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Daiki leaned back, slightly alarmed; he and Kise were friends and all but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear about that shit. “Look man, I can lend you a condom but—”

“No!” Kise interrupted. He glared. “Just what do you think of me…? Look.” He rubbed at the lipstick; it came off easily enough, reduced to a red smear. Before Daiki could ask what the big deal was, Kise waved him silent. “Just wait.” Daiki stared. He blinked. The smeared lipstick had regained its shape. “A woman I was modeling with yesterday got ahead of herself and _this_ happened,” Kise explained. “I tried wiping it off later but it just reappeared again. The same thing happened after I took a shower.”

“I … think it’s time to talk to Tetsu,” Daiki said.

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

* * *

“It’s marked you as its prey.” The book Tetsu had been consulting sent up a cloud of dust as he closed it. “The lipstick identifies you to it later and keeps anything else from trying to take you before it can.”

“And what exactly is ‘it’?” Daiki already knew better than to put his feet up on the table but he still couldn’t resist leaning back in his chair.

Tetsu let it go in favor of answering, “Just a low class demon.”

“‘Just,’ he says,” muttered Kise, eyeing the mark with considerably more alarm.

“Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting much else,” Daiki said. “Shouldn’t you be used to this kind of thing already?”

“Demons are a new thing,” Kise insisted.

“Are you kidding? Did you even _go_ to our last game?” Daiki asked.

“No, I didn’t. I have a job, remember?” In return for the look Kise gave him, Daiki lobbed a paper ball across the table but didn’t bother to keep the remembrance out of his expression. Rolling his eyes, Kise turned to Tetsu. “Hey, Kurokocchi,” he pleaded, “Isn’t there something we can do about this?”

Tetsu sighed. “There’s nothing much we can do besides keeping together until she comes after you. I doubt she’d come during school hours,” he mused.

“She’d probably wait until he was alone, wouldn’t she?” Daiki pointed out.

“That’d probably be at home then,” Kise said, “Since my family’s out of town.”

“Then we’ll have to wait for her there,” Tetsu said, starting to put his books away. Daiki went to grab the duffel bag of standard supplies he kept behind the front desk.

“There goes date night,” he grumbled.

“Sorry about that,” Kise said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Daiki grinned, and patted his shoulder a bit too enthusiastically. “Don’t worry,” he said. “At least it’s not as bad as the time you got kidnapped by that giant praying mantis.”


	6. Chapter 6

Standing in front of the library doors, Satsuki couldn’t resist checking her hair one last time. Of course, she didn’t care how pretty the new librarian thought she looked but impressions did matter. Looking presentable was part of her standard procedure when information-gathering. Satisfied with her appearance, Satsuki entered the library.

She had never spent much time there outside of classes, while Dai-chan had probably never set foot in the place. It looked a lot nicer than she remembered; less dust, more light – and more books. They covered the tables, some piled higher than her head.

At first glance the room appeared to be empty. “Hello?” Satsuki called. There was a faint rustling from the tables. What emerged from behind a particularly tall stack of books was a man only a few inches taller than her, dressed much more casually than her image of librarians normally allowed.

“Can I help you?” he asked, pocketing a pair of spectacles – probably reading glasses, she surmised – as he stepped forward.

Satsuki was quick to smile brightly, covering her surprise. “Hi,” she said, stepping forward to meet him. “I heard we were getting a new librarian today and just came to see. I used to help out Mrs. Garcia,” she said, relieved at how smoothly her pre-prepared excuse had come out, “I’m Momoi Satsuki.”

“Kuroko Tetsuya,” the man said in return, bowing slightly. “I imagine you must be familiar with the library, then? If you don’t mind, I could use some assistance sorting through these books.” He gestured to the tables, a bit helplessly.

 _Perfect_. Satsuki kept her expression even, polite, as she offered her help.

After ten minutes and Satsuki’s guidance, she’d managed to find out that Kuroko was twenty-one, used to work in a museum in London and had switched continents and taken the job of a high school librarian at the request of an old acquaintance. The books they were sorting through belonged to his personal collection but he didn’t mind making some of them available for student use.

Five minutes later, Satsuki came across a book obviously different from the rest. It was old, leather-bound and as thick as a dictionary. The word _Vampyr_ was embossed on the front. “Hey,” Satsuki called, trying to keep her voice steady, “Are you interested in these kinds of things?”

She didn’t miss the way Kuroko’s mouth tightened when he glanced over. “I’m surprised you recognize it,” he said.

“Just what are you here for?” Satsuki glared. “I won’t let you hurt Dai-chan.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just here to watch over Aomine-kun. I’m a Watcher,” he said. “Although it appears you’ve been doing a fine job in my place.”

Satsuki sniffed. “Dai-chan would be hopeless without me,” she said, which wasn’t entirely true but it never hurt to downplay just how strong he really was.

“It suddenly makes a lot more sense that he’s managed so long,” Kuroko agreed. “I’m very impressed.”

“He’s the one you should be impressed with.”

“No, you’re pretty amazing yourself.” Making sure to catch her eye, Kuroko said, “Momoi-san? I really am on your side.”

The bell rang, startling them out of the moment. Shouldering her bag, Satsuki turned to leave. “We’ll see about that,” she said, but without the same edge to her voice.

“Momoi-san?” She glanced back. “It doesn’t have to have something to do with Aomine-kun. Feel free to drop by the library on your own any time. If you ever feel like learning magic, I wouldn’t mind teaching you. I think you might have a talent for it.”

Satsuki left without replying, in too much of a hurry. Her cheeks were hot and she felt oddly flustered by the offer and mad at herself because of it. She could only conclude that she needed to return later – only for more information, of course.


	7. Chapter 7

“He’s _such_ a gentleman! Unlike some people I know.” Satsuki’s tone was definitely pointing toward Daiki but he remained unfazed. If Satsuki couldn’t stand his personality, she would have slapped him the first time he’d dropped a frog on her head and left it at that, instead of coming around every Friday to have dinner together.

“And? He’s too careful. ‘Don’t open that book, it’s cursed.’ Please! How else are we supposed to get the demon inside out of hiding and away for good?”

“Isn’t that what Tetsu-kun is researching now?” Satsuki leaned forward, snagging a French fry from the plate between them and waving it around to emphasize her point. “An eight hundred year old demon isn’t something we want to mess with. If Tetsu-kun can find a way to get rid of it without bringing down an infernal grudge on all of us, I’d prefer that method.”

Daiki scoffed. “You just like not having to do all the research for once.”

“Maybe,” Satsuki admitted. “This way I can focus on being the voice of reason. It’s great. Tetsu-kun and I can take turns.”

“There’s that ‘Tetsu-kun,’ again,” Daiki said, “Why do you keep saying his name?”

“Because!” Satsuki grinned and – was that a blush? Jesus Christ – reached for another fry. “Can you believe he’s only three years older than us? That means he’s totally legal, right?”

Daiki laughed, a sharp burst of sound erupting in the middle of the lunchroom; around them, the noise level dipped for a moment before rising again. “Don’t let your fans hear you talking like that,” he said.

Satsuki rolled her eyes. “Don’t act like it’s a complete surprise. With a childhood friend like you, how could I not have picked some things up?”

“It’s better than using umbrellas to knock the cereal out of the cabinet,” Daiki said, remembering his days of crushed Cheerios and a clumsily wielded broom.

“Yeah, because if I did that at this age, something’s wrong. I still don’t like frogs though,” Satsuki said

He shrugged, grabbed a few fries. “I don’t know. I think you handled that frog monster thing a while back pretty well. Hey, did we ever figure out what that thing _was_ , exactly?”

Satsuki went a little pale at the memory. “No, but it was so disgusting I think I slipped into autopilot,” she said, shuddering. “Thank god Tetsu-kun knew how to get rid of it.”

“And we’re back to him again. Although,” Daiki said consideringly, “It was pretty good he was there.” He frowned at Satsuki’s triumphant expression.

“You and him might make a better team than you expect,” she said, “And to that end, I think you should spend more time together. How about inviting him to dinner?” She treated him to a long stare before he answered.

“Fine,” he said, “But it has to be on a Friday.”


	8. Chapter 8

Daiki could admit it - he was sulking.

They’d practically been fighting a monster a week but it seemed everything evil had taken a break for the holidays, an idea Daiki resented. Not one to visit the library normally, he hadn’t seen Tetsu in ages.

Satsuki was unsympathetic to his plight. “If you want to see him so badly, just go. Honestly,” she sighed, going back to her math homework.

"Tetsu said I couldn’t visit unless I had a good reason," he said, glaring at the blank paper in front of him.

"That’s because you end up falling asleep and skipping class," Satsuki scolded.

"But it’s quiet there," Daiki protested.

"It is a library, you know.”

"It’s a safe place." He and Tetsu had made sure of that. If anything (demonic or otherwise) ever managed to break in, it wouldn’t last long.

Satsuki rolled her eyes. “He’s not going to kick you out if you go,” she said. “He abut said as much.”

"When did you talk to him?" Daiki demanded.

"During our last magic lesson?" Satsuki’s eyebrows rose and lowered after realizing he had no idea when they were. "A few days ago. They’re so interesting," she gushed. "Tetsu-kun says I’m a natural." She was damn near glowing as she spoke.

Daiki huffed. “I don’t understand any of that stuff.”

"Are you feeling left out?" Satsuki teased.

Daiki stood. “I’m leaving,” he announced.

"Going to the library?"

"I happen to have a question for a librarian," he said, as gracefully as he  could, before stalking off and leaving Satsuki’s laughter behind.

* * *

"Hey, Tetsu," he called, stepping into the room. "You here?"

Daiki glanced around and spotted the man emerging from between the shelves, tottering under a pile of books barely small enough to see over. “Hello,” he greeted, “Is something wrong?”

Moving to take some of the books, Daiki followed Tetsu to one of the reading tables. “Does something have to be wrong for me to come see you?”

"No, but that’s usually the case," Tetsu answered.

"I just had a question," Daiki hedged, wondering how to progress.

"And? What is it?" Setting down the books, Tetsu gave him his full attention, which didn’t help his concentration.

Despite the painfully loud sound of his heart in his ears, Daiki had become adept at hiding his nervousness long ago and put the skill to good use. Casually, he said, “It’s been a while.”

"Indeed it has," Tetsu agreed. "I trust everything is fine on your end?"

"Yeah," Daiki said, rubbing the back of his head. "You’re okay too, right?"

"I’m okay." Daiki barely caught Tetsu’s glance before he averted his eyes. "A bit lonely, I suppose," he said, beginning to sort the books into smaller stacks.

Throat dry, he only grunted questioningly.

"It really has been a while since we last spoke," Tetsu elaborated. "With final exams coming up, there are more students coming in but except for magic lessons, I don’t really have anyone to talk to."

Momentarily distracted, Daiki snapped, “Well, if you wouldn’t kick me out every time I came in—”

"That’s because you end up falling asleep and missing class," Tetsu interrupted, mirroring Satsuki’s earlier words. "Otherwise, I’d be more than happy to have you stay here," he said, voice lowered.

"Well," Daiki said gruffly, seeing his chance, "If you’re so lonely now, I bet it’s going to be even worse once we’re not in school."

"Well, not exactly," Tetsu began to say but Daiki spoke over him.

"So, if you want, I wouldn’t mind, you know, spending it with you. Christmas, that is. And that whole week in general."

Daiki avoided looking at him as he waited for his answer, instead focusing on a bookshelf where he knew they’d hidden enough stakes to build a very dangerous fence.

He head a sigh. And then, “Inviting yourself over as usual, I see. Alright. You can stay for the week after Christmas. But before that, at least spend some time with your family.”

Too happy to bargain, Daiki agreed happily.

* * *

Christmas day, Tetsu found Daiki perched on the base of the park’s center statue, waiting.

"Took you long enough," Daiki commented, jumping down. "I thought you were always on time."

"Since you’re ten minutes late to everything, I thought it’d be acceptable to walk a little slower," Tetsu said.

"Thought I was going to freeze my ass off," Daiki gloated. If Satsuki ever brought up his tardiness again, he finally had a counterexample.

Grabbing his hand, Tetsu entwined their fingers. “Your hands aren’t cold,” he said after a moment. “You haven’t been waiting long.”

Closing his mouth, Daiki retrieved his hand, stuffing it in his pocket instead. “Whatever,” he mumbled and was glad he didn’t flush easily. Changing the subject, he pulled out a small box and held it out. “Here. Present.”

They slowed as Tetsu unwrapped the gift, lifting the cover to reveal a new switchblade.

"To replace the one you lost last time," he explained as Tetsu covered it again and slipped it into his coat.

"Thank you." This time it was Daiki who caught the box tossed his way. "Your present."

"What is it?" he asked, holding it up to see better.

"Well, you already have enough weapons," Tetsu said, "And I know you’re proficient with your combat skills. I know that but I still can’t help worrying. So I got you a good luck charm. Of course, it’s not as real as it could be, but I thought getting something stronger might cause problems in the future."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because you’re precious to me. And you can take that sentiment any way you want."

"What an embarrassing guy." Flushed, Daiki tugged on Tetsu’s wrist, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he stumbled forward. Burying his face in the shorter man’s hair, he mumbled his gratitude.

"I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you," Tetsu said with an audible smile.

"Shut up," Daiki growled but didn’t release him from the embrace. "I love you, idiot."


	9. Chapter 9

“Honestly, only _you_ could take someone on a date and get them hurt as a souvenir,” Satsuki griped.

“Hey,” Daiki objected, “Untrue. Lots of people get injured on dates.”

“Fine,” she said, “But I doubt that most of those injuries consist of two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, twisted ankle, bruises _all over_ and Tetsu-kun, are you sure you don’t want to see a doctor?” She glanced up at the man in worry as she crouched over his ankle, finishing off dressing the wound with a neat knot in the bandages.

“It’s fine,” Tetsu said, grimacing. Daiki winced in guilt at the expression. “I’ve faced worse. Honestly, if it weren’t for Aomine-kun’s quick thinking, I’d be left with a lot worse memories of today.”

Satsuki frowned but kept her lips pursed as she moved on to dab at the cut above his eye. Once again, Daiki shrunk slightly back from the sight; the amount of blood streaking Tetsu’s face weighed heavily on his conscience.

“It really sucks though, doesn’t it?” Kise chimed in, after slapping some gauze over Daiki’s own cuts. “Supernatural shit following you all the way out there, that is.”

“I _know_ ,” Daiki growled. “Three towns over and we still got caught up in something. Stupid me for thinking it’d be fine,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Kise asked.

“Just saying, I’m sure you must be the expert on this sort of thing by now. It should be, what? Five dates that you’ve gone on with something spooky?”

“I only asked out _one_ of them,” Kise protested.

That was fair. Daiki would give him that. “That’s right. The other four times, _they_ asked _you_ out. And you still said yes! Shouldn’t you be able to sniff them out or something?”

“Maybe. But look, the way I see it, if they’re not actively trying to kill me, what have I got to lose?” Kise shrugged, patting the bandage on Daiki’s shoulder a little too hard.

Daiki rolled his eyes. “Uh, your life? Still? Seriously, man.”

He could hear Kise draw in breath for a retort but Satsuki beat him to it. “If you’re going to argue, do it outside. Your bedside manners seriously suck,” she scolded. Addressing Kise, she asked, “You done checking him over?”

The boy nodded. “Got him all bandaged up and everything.”

She sighed, and Daiki could see her shoulders visibly droop as the tension released her. He squirmed in his seat, avoiding Tetsu’s curious glance at the motion. “Alright, let’s return this stuff to the nurse’s office,” Satsuki said, gathering a first aid kit into her arms. Kise followed suit and soon they were both out the door, trailing bandages behind them, leaving Daiki alone with the man he’d nearly gotten killed a few hours ago.

In the ensuing silence, he found himself trying very hard not to focus on that thought.

A soft sigh sounded at his right. He glanced over in time to see Tetsu move to sit right beside him, knocking their knees together. “I really hope you’re not thinking of anything stupid right now.”

“Like what?”

“Well, the last time I was this badly hurt, you tried to storm a warehouse full of vampires. Solo.”

“Yeah, but that was because it was their fault! This time—” Daiki choked on his own words, cutting himself off. Well, if he hadn’t known before, Tetsu definitely knew what was up now. Daiki silently cursed his extremely tenuous brain-to-mouth filter.

“Hey,” Tetsu called softly. “Can I tell you something?” He waited for Daiki to nod and then said, “You do know that your life is basically my responsibility, right? When I first became your Watcher, every time you got hurt, every time you went into a fight less than a hundred percent prepared, I killed myself over it. But as time went on, I eventually realized that you’re kind of dumb and there’s a reason I’m a Watcher at my age – that being that I’m remarkably good at it.”

“Is this going in a direction that isn’t insulting to me or…?” Daiki trailed off, but couldn’t hide the upward tilt to his mouth in time before Tetsu looked over.

He didn’t say anything about it, just continued speaking. “When we started dating, that feeling came back. What if I couldn’t protect you? What if you got hurt trying to protect _me_? What if we ended up distracting each other?” Tetsu’s brow furrowed in genuine distress at the thought. Slowly, Daiki reached up to massage the worry away and left his hand there, cupping his cheek.

“Breathe,” he advised.

Tetsu obeyed, inhaling slowly and letting it out with his next words. “No matter what, I did not want to become your weakness. But you know what? You still got just as hurt as before and you still rushed into things without thinking them through but you kept coming back alive. And I got over it again. It helped when I told myself that you getting yourself injured? That’s still my responsibility. I have to deal with the aftermath, I have to do what I can to stop it happening again. But believing that it was my fault, thinking that I could have done something to change that was both thinking far too highly of myself and severely underestimating you.” He paused, taking another deep breath. “Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“So what you’re trying to tell me,” Daiki said, “Is that you liked me from the start. Oh, you pretended to be all disgruntled and disapproving, but you cared.” He grinned, pleased with the snort of amusement he drew from the other man.

“Okay,” Tetsu said, “If you want to tell yourself that. Anything else your intuition can glean?”

“Yeah,” Daiki whispered, “Yeah.” He’d gotten the message. “This is kind of creepy.”

“If you’re talking about this cut…”

“No,” he hurried to say, “Not that.”

“Then what?”

“You’re being unusually open. And not in a blunt way. You’re being nice about it.”

Tetsu laughed quietly. “You looked like you needed it.”

Daiki pressed a kiss to his temple, murmuring against the skin, “Maybe.” He moved to rest his chin on Tetsu’s shoulder, closing his eye contentedly as fingers came up to card through his hair. He whispered, “Hey, Tetsu.”

“Mm?”

“If anyone, if you or Satsuki or Kise, were ever hurt or in any danger, I don’t think I could stop myself from trying to save you. But I promise that I’ll do it in a way that doesn’t end up worse for everybody, okay? In return, you have to promise to never think of yourself a weakness again. Deal?”

He could feel a smile pressed into his neck. “Deal.”


End file.
